Looking Up
by Jess4reals
Summary: AU. Sequel to Facing North. Tony and Steve are finally together. Off to their second year of college, the boys are ready to have it all. Everything, however, seems to be slipping through their fingers. The young adults aren't quite sure they can keep it together through the rough times. But maybe they can keep the peace enough to make it work. Stony, fluff in the beginning.
1. Chapter 1

"Tony."

"Mmph."

"Tony. Wake up."

"Nuh-uh."

Tony felt a trail of kisses start from the base of his neck, up to his ear. "Up," Steve whispered.

"Mmm... tickles," Tony mumbled back. Steve sighed and left Tony's side. He felt a quick movement of material then a sharp slap of cold air. "Jesus! Steve!" He whined.

Steve held up the duvet triumphantly. "You need to get up."

"Why?" Tony asked, spreading out the last syllable.

"We're visiting my grandmother, 'member?"

"It's not that I don't want to meet her, it's just... _sleep_."

Steve moved over towards the dresser. After freshman year, the two students decided to rent an apartment together. Tony had told Howard that Steve was just a roommate-not quite ready to enter that whole new world of disappointment that would come from being bi.

Tony felt a heap of clothes land on his back. "Sleep in the car."

"Hmph."

Steve, however. hand told his grandmother about his new partner and the woman wanted to meet him.

Tony put a shirt on before actually standing to slip on his jeans. Steve was already dressed and moved to the kitchen to start on breakfast. It wasn't long before the brunet could smell bacon from the bathroom. He finished brushing his teeth and stumbled out into the living room, heading towards the table.

"Now you're up?" Steve asks, moving the bacon from the stove top to another plate.

"Now I'm up," Tony replies. He rest his head on the table's surface anyways.

He was almost asleep when Steve put a plate down in front of him. "I'm leaving in half an hour. You are coming with."

Tony grunted in response and lifted up his head. Sitting on the plate was a bacon/cheese/bagel sandwich. He moaned before biting into the soft bread.

"Good?"

"Mm-hmph." He nodded.

Steve laughed and planted a kiss atop Tony's head. "I'm gonna take a shower, then we can head out."

"M'kay," Tony said around a mouth of food.

* * *

Steve was currently in the driver's side of Tony's new BMW M6 Cabriolet while Tony rested his head in shot gun.

"It's your fault for staying up so late. Where were you anyways?"

"Labs..."

"Labs?"

"Mm-hmm. With Bruce. In the science halls."

The driver smiled. "What were you working on?"

"This little robot arm thing." Tony moved his head off the window and looked over at Steve. "It's not working out too well though. I can't get the artificial inelegance to cooperate right. Right now it's got the mind capacity of one Justin Hammer."

Steve laughed as Tony became more animate. It wouldn't be long before they reached Brooklyn.

* * *

Tony didn't even realize how close they were till the engine was turned off.

"Oh."

"Maybe we shouldn't have taken one of your cars," Steve said, looking out the window.

"We'll be fine. She'll be fine. Any one touches my baby, I'll get you to sack 'em."

Steve chuckled and opened his door.

"You think I'm kidding, don't you."

They walked up to the apartment building and pushed through the door. Tony grabbed Steve's hand when they reached the elevador.

* * *

"Steve!" An older woman opened the door and threw her arms around said blonde. She was surprisingly small for being Steve's relative. _Though I guess Steve was pretty small at one point, too._ Tony thought.

"Hi, grandma." He bent down to place a kiss on her weathered cheek. They parted and the woman turned to Tony.

"And you're Anthony!"

"Well, Tony. But, yeah. Same-umph." He was cut of when a pair of small, thin arms embraced him. She was pretty strong for an old lady.

"Come in, come in! I've got breakfast on the table, and your Aunty has been asking for you, Steve. I didn't tell her you'd be back just yet, though. Give us and your boyfriend some time to catch up and get to know each other."

"We've already eaten, grandma. But I can talk to Samantha later."

"No, no. I haven't seen you for a while, and still haven't met your young man," she said, looking over at Tony. "So anyways, breakfast is in the kitchen."

"We already-"

Tony cut Steve off. "Sh. I smell more bacon."

* * *

"So what are you studying, Anthony?"

"I'm majoring in engineering."

"And you enjoy school?"

"Um, yeah. School's great. Everything's been going good."

"And I hope Steve hasn't been in too much trouble," she said, stirring her tea.

Tony laughed, "No, he's been keeping me out of it." He squeezed the blonde's knee under the table.

* * *

"And Steve, he use to play this superhero game-"

"Grandma, please don't!"

"No, wait, I want to hear this."

"-and he would run around my old garden with a shield and-oh!-do you remember that hat I made for you?"

"Yes..."

Ms. Rogers giggled. "It had little wings on the side."

Tony playfully bumped shoulders with Steve.

* * *

"Yeah, I was in the hospital for a couple of days, right?"

Steve nodded. "Don't do that again."

"I'm okay now, aren't I?"

Steve glared at him.

"I won't do it again. Promise."

"Good." They shared a brief kiss before turning back to Steve's grandmother.

* * *

"I think we have to get going, Tony."

He looked down at his watch. "Oh, yeah. It's already 7."

"Time fly's, huh." Ms. Rogers stood up and took their glasses from the coffee table into the kitchen.

"It was really great seeing you, Grandma. Tell Aunty to give me a call whenever."

She kissed Steve on the cheek before responding. "Drive safe, okay? And study hard, too." She turned towards Tony. "It was lovely meeting you, Anthony."

"Like wise, Ms. Rogers." He held out his hand, but she enveloped him in another hug.

"Take care of my grandson, will you?"

"With all my heart."

She herded the boys towards her door. "Goodnight!"

After their final goodbyes, they headed back towards the elevators. Tony grabbed Steve's hand again. "That was a lot of fun, actually."

"Glad you enjoyed yourself."

"We should visit more often."

"Okay."

"And have lunch here more. She's a really good cook."

"Can't argue with you there."

"...She's really nice."

Steve laughed and turned to Tony while they waited for the lift. "I'm really glad she likes you."

Tony snaked his arms around Steve's waist. "Me, too."

They kissed before the door binged open.

* * *

**A/N: It seems I'm in a fluffy mood today. It's a shorter chapter, but it's just an intro-keep in mind. I regret to inform you that I haven't even begun chapter 2 of Sundays. Bleh, my schedule for these things is awful. At least this is up. Hope you enjoyed, more chapters coming soon! Also, please rate and review!**

**~Jessi  
**


	2. Chapter 2 Part 1

**A/N: Oh man, this is late, this is very, very, very late.**

* * *

Classes now seemed to take years for Tony. He was by far one of the youngest kids in his class, but he still found himself playing with scrap pieces of paper in his lone business lecture. Everything just dragged on.

_Ugh, Howard! _he though as he tore up fore flakes. Tony understood _why _he needed the business class (the elder Stark wasn't going to live forever), but he still hated his father for signing him up.

Tony has been watching his dad build up Stark Industries from day one. Surely he knew a thing or two about how to run a company. He didn't need Mr. Pencil-Pusher to lecture him on simple 3rd grade addition.

The sudden beginning notes of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" threw Tony out of his thoughts. He looked down at his bag before Professor Paper-Filer's voice boomed out. "Personal call, Mr. Stark?"

Tony reached down into his backpack's pocket to pull out his phone. The screen read 'Pepper' in white, clear letters. "Looks like it"

Then I suggest you take it outside."

The class snickered, but Tony happily flung his backpack over one shoulder before standing up. He wasn't even out the door before he hit the answer button. "Talk to me, Pep."

"Hey, where are you? I'm at your apartment, but no one's home."

"I was in class."

"Class? Tony!"

"Hey! **You **were the one who called **me**!"

"You were free last week!" she argued.

"I skipped," Tony said simply. "Almost to my car now. What's up?"

"Rhodey's back in town."

"What?! I haven't seen him since he left for boot camp! Is he there with you?" ha asked excitedly.

"Well, he's in the car... in the parking garage."

"Awww, Pep," he whined.

"I was gonna surprise you!" She defended, but Tony could hear her laughing. "I'm not walking all the way back there for you to say hello over the phone."

Tony chuckled. "Alright, see you soon." He hung up before she could say goodbye.

* * *

"Rhodey!" Tony called out in the concrete halls. Said solder had his back facing him, talking to Pepper. He turned around to greet his old friend. They quickly hugged and slapped each other on the back before Tony spoke up again. "It's been too long, man. Y'know what? You," he pointed a finger at the accused, "have been avoiding us, haven't you? Usually, I wouldn't care, but Pepper's missed you and I want you to meet the sweet piece of ass I'm dating now."

Rhodey's eyebrows shot up and he faintly smiled. "This is too interesting a conversation to have in a parking garage. C'mon, I think Pepper said something about pizza?" He turned towards the strawberry blonde.

Pepper lightly laughed before answering, "Pizza King is just around the corner."

* * *

The trio kinda fell into the low seated booth after giving their order to the cashier. They began talking as they waited for their large, half cheese, half pepperoni pizza. "So what were you saying back there about _dating_?" Rhodey asked.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah. So-listen to this-we got roommates last year, and I was lucy enough to get this tall blonde guy who-"

"Wait, guy?"

"Oh. Yeah, his name's Steve. So anyways, he's-"

"I didn't think you... uhm..."

"Flipped that way? Well, if you saw this guy, you would too. Like I was saying, he's adorably shy but really interesting too. And, like, _really _hot."

Rhodey laughed and Pepper smiled fondly at Tony. "I've never seen you this in to someone, Tony."

Tony shrugged. "He's pretty great."

It was then that the scrawny 16 year old waiter brought their pizza and side of bread sticks. Tony had a piece in his hand before the kid spoke. "Is that all?"

It was silent before Pepper realized the boys were busy with their mouths full. "Yes, thank you."

The groups attention was turned away from Steve, but Rhodey was still curious about the guy.

* * *

It was around 3 o'clock when Tony, Pepper, and Rhodey finally left the restaurant. They had decided to head back to Tony's place to grab a few drinks and hopefully run into Steve. They were in Pepper's car when Smells Like Teen Spirit began to play from Tony's pocket. He laughed at Rhodey's joke and hit the answer button with out looking at the caller ID.

"Hello?"

"Tony? It's your father." Said brunet dropped his phone into his lap before running and hand threw his hair.

"Um, yeah, what's up?"

"Listen, I'm driving up to New York today. I was gonna stop in and see how schools coming. Are you at your apartment?"

"Uhhh, getting there."

"Where are you."

Tony sighed and rolled his eyes. "I'm with Pepper and Rhodes."

"Alright, good. They're good kids. So I'll be up by your apartment in about half and hour. Are you going to be there then?"

_No, nope, not going back home. Sorry, come back next time._ "Yeah, I'll be there."

"Good. I'll see you then." Howard hung up before Tony could respond.

He threw his head back against the car's seat and groaned. "What?" Pepper asked from the driver's seat.

"Howards gonna be at my place in half and hour."

"Oh, uhm, drop me off at my hotel, Pepper."

Tony quickly turned to glare at Rhodey. "Nooo way. I already told him you were gonna be there. Your trapped in this with me."

"Can you guys **not **fight then? It's uncomfortable," Pepper spoke up.

"Yeah, alright, whatever. Just... he doesn't know Steve and I are together."

"Tony!"

"Rhodey just found out! You think I'm gonna tell Howard yet!" Tony threw up his hands in defense. Pepper sighed but said nothing.

Rhodey looked between the two before responding. "We won't say anything."

Tony turned back to his friend. "Thank you."

* * *

**Okay, I'm _really_ sorry this took so long. This is only part one of this chapter, and that really sucks. I'm gonna put Sundays on hiatus for a little bit cause I obviously can't do both. I _will_ get the next chapter up soon. Thanks for sticking around! Love you guys!**

**~Jessi  
**


	3. Chapter 2 Part 2

**A/N: Wow, this is even later then normal -_-**

* * *

The rest of the car ride back was border-line uncomfortable. No one said anything and Tony was quietly freaking out. If he had time to prepare, this would be easy. But seeing as Steve was in the middle of a lecture right now and had no clue what was happening, but brunet nervously bounced his knee up and down.

It was another full minute before Pepper once again spoke up. "Stop that, you'll be fine." Tony didn't reply, but his leg stopped bouncing. "Seriously, though. What's gonna happen? Steve will get home, see that Howard's there, and act like nothings going on. _We _aren't gonna say anything. _Steve's _not gonna say anything. And _you _aren't gonna say anything."

"So, recap: Your dad's not gonna find out," Rhodey added from the back. "Am I right, or am I right?"

Tony turned to once again look at Pepper, who smiled at him, then back towards the road. "Yeah, no. You're right. I'll be fine. Nothings gonna happen."

* * *

It wasn't long before Pepper found an empty parking space by Tony and Steve's apartment. Tony didn't see Howard's car any where around, but he would have gotten a driver or parked somewhere else.

Tony opened the door, stepping out into the crisp, late fall air. He waited at the curb for Rhodey and Pepper to walk around the car, then turned on his heal toward his apartment building. They talked about Rhodey's service time and how long he was going to be in New York while Tony himself stayed silent.

It was... odd how much this was effecting Tony. Pepper-like always-was completely right. Nothing was going to happen. So Tony took one last breath to calm himself before fishing out his keys and unlocking the now present door. However, when he pushed the key through the door knob, he realized it was unlocked. _What the-Howard. Y'couldn't have waited? _Tony thought bitterly. _At least I know he's here now._

"Tony?"

"Yeah, it's me. I've got Pepper and Rhodey with me, too."

"Oh... good. Glad to see them."

The three walked into the small-ish apartment and Tony threw his keys onto the table in the hall.

He could hear that his father was doing something in the kitchen-_probably getting a drink -_so he motioned for Pepper and Rhodey to wait in the main room while he talked to Howard. He stepped into the room, seeing that the elder Stark was, in fact, poring a scotch into a short, round glass. "We need to talk, Tony."

"Figured as much," he mumbled. He moved to sit down at the round table and tucked his chin into his hand. Howard looked at him through the now half empty glass, but didn't say anything.

"You're friends with Justin Hammer, correct?" he asked eventually.

"...Kinda."

Howard nodded and set the glass down before turning to look out the window. Before him lay a _very _ expensive view of Brooklyn thank you very much. Of course, Howard payed for that view, but Tony liked to forget about that.

He turned back around to once again face Tony. "You know his father and I are friends as well."

"Well, I do now."

He nodded again. "You know I..." he cleared his throat. "I heard some things the other day. Third hand from Justin. Through his father." He was facing the window once again.

Tony rolled his eyes. "That doesn't-" The words quickly died on his lips. While it wasn't huge news (not anymore, anyways) that Steve and Tony were together, a lot of people knew about their relationship. He licked his lips nervously. "That doesn't tell me anything."

Howard quickly spun on his heals to face the teen. "Do you realize how _embarrassing_ this was for me? To hear-from Micheal Hammer, of _all people_-that you're-"

The front door opened and Steve's voice rung out, "Tony? Who's here?" He heard footsteps from the hallway rushing to greet Steve. He should have known Pepper and Rhodey would be eavesdropping.

Tony had to strain his ears to hear Pepper quietly telling Steve that Tony was, in fact, fine and yes, that was Howard yelling but it's ok, they're talking at least. He looked back to Howard, whom never stopped glaring at him. His jaw was tense from grinding his teeth and a vein was popping on his forehead. "I should have seen this coming," he softly spoke. "It's only disappointment from you, Tony."

He could hear Rhodey and Pepper trying to explain the situation to Steve, as well as keep him out of the kitchen. That dulled down to a soft roar pounding in his ears-however-as anger rose up in Tony. "It's _disappointing? __**I'm **__disappointing?"_ He voice rose as his tolerance plumited. Tony was vaguely aware that Steve was becoming worried and trying to get through Pepper and Rhodey. Thank god they were smart enough to keep him from rushing into the kitchen 'cause the next thing Tony knew, Howard was staggering back from Tony with a bloody nose. "Don't you _dare_ tell me that _now_ that I'm happy, I'm a _disappointment_!"

"You little piece of shit," Howard hissed. He drew back his bloody hand and brought it down with such a force that Tony could immediately feel his left eye bruise. It was Tony's turn to stagger back... right into Steve's chest.

The blonde put his arms around Tony while he cupped his swollen eye. "Don't," Steve growled.

"Get your hands off of my-"

"Get out!" Pepper shrieked. "He's not your son! I'm sure he agrees with me when I say no _father_ would do that to his kid! Get out! Get out! Get! Out!" Seeing Pepper go into a melt down and Rhodey take Howard by the arm and _throw _him out the door made Tony smile a little. Steve burrowing his face into Tony's neck helped a little bit, too.

"You okay?" he mumbled.

_No. _"I'll be okay."

"That didn't answer my question." Steve pressed a chaste kiss into the spot where Tony's shoulder met his collarbone.

"I'll be okay," he repeated.

"Okay."

* * *

**A/N: So, yeah. This _is _late. But! I think I'm back in my groove! *Happy dances***

**But awwwwww, guuuuyyyys! You're all _so sweet!_ You give the best reviews! I couldn't tell you how much I appreciate it. You guys keep me going! **

**This chapter was even more fun to write than usual and was inspired by (guest) ILOVEHULK who said "...I would also like to see what Howard says if Tony tells him!"  
**

**While I'm also mentioning reviews I want to thank jack2724 and HeartsColide who said they didn't care that it was late. Thanks lovelies!  
**

**~Jessi**


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: What? A chapter that's on time? Where did that come from?**

* * *

Steve ran his hand through Tony's dripping hair. His boyfriend was currently resting against him-chest to back-while his head was nested in the crook of Steve's neck. They were in their too small bathtub with the water quickly cooling. He once again cupped his hand under the water and brought it up to Tony's tilted forehead, letting the liquid run down his hair. "Does your eye feel okay?"

"Mmn-hmm."

"We need to get ice on it after this."

"Alright."

Steve frowned. After Pepper and Rhodey had left, Tony had been eerily calm. The was no snark, no talking back. He had just let Steve pull him into the bathroom and sat on the edge while Rogers had filled the tub.

"Are you sure you're feeling okay?"

"I mean, my eye's a little sore, but yeah, nothing really hurts."

"You seem... off, Tony."

He moved to press a kiss into Steve's jaw line. "I'll be fine."

That's another thing Steve had noticed. Tony never said he _was_ ok. He said he was _going_ to be ok. And that scared Steve shitless. He was pulled out of his thoughts when Tony laughed. In shock, he stared down at him.

Sensing his boyfriend's confusion, Tony explained. "I mean, how surprised are you ? Really?"

"What?"

"Don't tell me you didn't see this coming." Tony looked up at Steve with one eyebrow raised. For a second, Steve though they were talking about something mundane and expected. Then his eyes fell on Tony's partially swollen face.

"Tony... don't-"

"What?"

"Don't say things like that. You're scaring me."

"Well, what else did you expect? I mean, I wasn't a golden child to begin with, and now this. The guy was going to go off the deep end sooner or later."

"But you don't..." Steve licked his lips. "You don't regret this, do you?"

The humor and false spirit quickly left Tony as unexpectedly as it came. He once again faced Steve. "No. No, of course not. Never."

Steve cleared his throat and looked towards the door. "Alright."

"No, Steve, look at me." And he did. "I don't-look. If Howard doesn't like this, than he can go screw himself, alright? That's-whatever. He didn't like me to begin with. I love you and that's all that matters here." He turned around, not seeing Steve's surprised expression. Until it dawned on him. The room seemed 100x quieter. "Shit."

"Tony-"

"I'm going out for a while."

"Tony!" But with speed Steve didn't know was possible, Tony was out the door and grabbing clothes. Once he heard the door close, Steve leased back in the tub. He blew a stream of air up towards the ceiling.

_It's been an entire year and he just now admits it, _Steve though. He understood that Tony wasn't good with emotions, and he understood why. But he couldn't just wait around for another minute?

"I love you, too."

* * *

Tony was currently speeding down towards his favorite bar. Well, it wasn't his favorite, but it was one where no one will ask about the black eye, or why he was around in the first place. He hit a red light and leaned back in his seat.

_What are you doing, Stark? Go back and talk to him!_ But the light turned green, and Tony continued on.

Once he was in the parking lot, he turned off the engine and sat in the car for a few minutes. Unknowingly mirroring what his partner had previously done, Tony huffed at the ceiling. He was resting for five more minutes before someone tapped on the window's glass. He gave them a sideways look before sitting up right.

"Tony! Hey! I knew that was you!" His warm breath fogged up the glass and Tony smiled.

"What's up, Clint?" He opened the door and stepped out into the December air.

"Whoa. What happened to your eye?"

Tony moved his hand to feel the tentative cheek bone. "Um. Past hook-up, y'know? Bumped into her earlier with Steve."

"Oh, he must hate that."

"Yeah, he was pretty pissed. But hey, c'mon. Let's go in. I'll buy you a beer." He jerked his head at the doubled doors advertising happy hour.

Clint bit his lip and looked toward the bar. "Wish I could, but Phil's actually in the car."

He tried not to let his disappointing show. "Oh! Where you guys headed?"

"Well, I'm going to archery range and he's gonna read, I guess."

"Hmm. Don't let me stop you."

"I could stay for just-like-one beer."

"No, seriously, go on. Coulson will kill me if I let you keep him waiting."

"Clint smiled and clapped him on the shoulder. "Alright. Just call if you need a ride, kay?"

"Got it." Tony winked and then smiled at Clint until he turned round, then headed up towards the bar.

* * *

It was half an hour later that Steve had his phone out in his hands. He'd usually would let Tony cool off and then talk about it at home, but with the days advents, he was worried.

Steve took in a big breath and held it before sighing it out and dialing Tony's number. He held the cell up to his ear, only to receive the beginning of an automated message.

_You've reached the voice mail of -Tony Sta- __**click.**_

He ran a hand over his face and blew out his cheeks. _Time to start calling around, see if anyone's seen him._ God, Steve hated phone conversations.

* * *

**A/N: I'm only a day late, motherfuckers! Woo! I'll try to keep these coming, but keep in mind finals are next week. Please review, tell me how I'm doing! Love you guys!**

**~Jessi**


	5. Chapter 4

He nearly fell out of bed when the sudden call broke the silence. He sat still in shock, looking at the phone with his book wide open in his hands. The phone rang again, and he dog-eared his page to keep his place. "Hello?"

"Bruce?" He waited for Steve to continue, only to realize he was asking for confirmation.

"Um, yeah?"

"Has Tony stopped by or anything?" _Oh god not this again._

"No..."

"Alright, just call me if he does."

"Yeah, sure." Steve ended the call without so much as a thanks. Bruce puffed out his cheeks and tangled his fingers in his hair. He liked Tony, he really did. He was smart, funny, and knew what Bruce was trying to say before he finished his sentences. But if Tony didn't stop this... issue he had, Bruce didn't want to wait around long enough to wait for the next encounter. He left his book on the desk and picked his cell up once more, read to call Betty.

* * *

Loki sealed the final crease by pressing his finger down the line of the fold. Lifting the paper to admire his work, his eyes slid to Thor and an impish smile grew on his features. Throwing the creation, the airplane hit Thor square on his back. Loki's smile grew until Thor grunted. "I'm studying Loki."

At that he snorted and replied, "It won't do you any good. Let's go to the library, play a prank or two on some freshmen."

"No."

"Come on, half of them won't realize what had happened till they get home. They're all stupider than you, and it takes work to be that daft."

"No, Loki. I'm studying."

He huffed and fell back onto Thor's bed where he had been sitting. He would usually just go by himself, but it was more fun to have someone with you to see how brilliant the prank actually was. A few more minutes passed before Loki was pulled out of his thoughts of revenged by Thor's ringing phone.

"Hello?... Steve! What is-no I haven't... That is troubling... Of course... I'll help look around... goodbye." Thor stood up and closed his text book.

"What? When Steve calls you, you're ready-"

"Anthony is missing again."

Loki paused in shock before scowling once again. "So? Stark isn't a child, he can take care of-"

"No, but he is an alcoholic with a fake ID, and we are his friends. It is our duty to help him."

He sneered at the idea. "You aren't a knight, Thor. You have no chivalry, and you have no duty. When Stark is out every other week drinking enough alcohol for a village, we shouldn't-"

"We? Loki you-"

"STOP INTERRUPTING!" Loki burst up out of the bed and took a moment to calm down. "At this point I think Anthony _wants_ the fate that is coming for him."

Thor narrowed his eyes and turned without another word.

* * *

_Thwack_

Clint breathed out through his nose and lifted another arrow to the bow. He nocked it, then aimed.

_Thwack_

A little too far to the right.

He briefly heard his phone ringing before Phil put his book down and picked it up. Clint reached for another arrow. He nocked it again, trying to block out Phil's voice. He took a breath before aiming. But before he could release the arrow, Phil's voice grew worried. "Yeah, we just saw him near the pharmacy we stopped off at." Clint put his bow down.

Walking over to Phil, Clint saw his usually calm demeanor crack and fall away. "It was the strip mall down on 134th." Clint's stomach dropped when he realized what was going on. He hung up the phone, and looked up to his boyfriend. "It's-"

"Tony, I know. C'mon." And off they went.

* * *

Pulling up to the same strip mall they were previously at, Phil and Clint immediately headed towards Mickey's Pub, the only bar the establishment had. Clint burst through the doors, with Phil at his heals. He scanned the bar and near the pool table, but saw no sign of Tony. So, he headed to the bartender while Phil went to look in the bathrooms and out back. "Scuse me, I'm looking for a guy who was in here earlier. He's kinda short, brown hair and eyes? Umm, easily annoyed?" Clint looked hopefully at the man, praying he had answers.

"Half of my customers fit that description."

"Well, I need to find this one! Have you seen him or not?"

The bartender gave him a sideways look, and put down the glass he had been cleaning. It was then that Phil returned and stood behind Clint. The guyed eyed the couple, then answered. "He was here for an hour at most, but had a lot of vodka. I told I'd call a taxi, but he was out the door before I had the phone in my hands. That was about ten minutes ago. Sorry." He shrugged and picked up another glass.

"I'll call Steve," Phil said from behind Clint. The archer, however sighed and brought his fingers to his brow.

"Tell him we'll keep looking."

* * *

He had just hung up the phone with Phil when the clock struck 10. Steve sighed and hoped with Thor and now Clint and Phil looking for Tony, they could find him till his destructive ways did any harm. So, it was a surprise then, that he heard a distinctive _God_ **_dammit_ **coming from outside the door. "Tony?" He heard the key hit the door and it's knob a few times before he could unlock it. Then the door swung open to finally reveal Tony. Alive, but not well.

* * *

**A/N: Cliff hanger? Yeah, I don't know I was just feeling it when I wrote this. Sorry about the delay, I was out of state for a while but I'm back! Thanks for all the lovely reviews, darlings! Keep them coming please!**

**Oh, also: I thought this was a little OCC for Loki and Thor, but I tried to reel it back in. I don't know, I was thinking their relationship as brothers was getting better but still touchy. Tell me what you think, advice is welcome.**

**~Jessi**


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: Remember when I thought I would get these out on schedule? Aha. Ahahaha. Hahahahha. *Flies into sun***

**ALSO: I need a beta reader. These aren't beta'd (as I'm sure you can tell aha) and I had asked someone a few weeks ago with no response :'(. SO, if you would do me the honor of PMing me if you're interested, that would be lovely! Thanks everyone!**

* * *

"Tony?" Steve repeated. The brunet was currently leaning very heavily on the door frame. Steve quickly let his eyes wander over his body, making sure he was ok. Not seeing any obvious injuries, he moved to get a better look. "Tony, are you ok? Where have you been? We've-"

"I'm _fine, _Steve," he spat out with as much venom as he could muster. "_God, _I was just down getting some drinks. You don't have to mother me." Tony pushed past him-only stumbling a little-and headed into the kitchen to grab a glass of water. The vodka had left his throat dry and scratchy, and he didn't get the chance to do anything about it till now.

Steve scowled at Tony, practically boring holes into the back of his head. "Do you not remember the last time we let you run off with a bottle of-"

Tony slammed the glass onto the counter but kept his back to Steve. "I wasn't _running around_! I was in the dorm, remember! I was blowing off steam!"

"You had to go to the hospital!"

"It wasn't-" Tony spun to finally face Steve, only to stumble and fall.

Steve quickly shot forward to catch him under his arms. They were on their knees, with Tony's head on Steve's shoulder. The blonde moved his arms so they enveloped Tony completely.

"It wasn't that big of a deal." Tony finished, mumbling into his boyfriend's shoulder.

Steve closed his eyes and sighed through his nose. "It scared me. You're always scaring me, Tony. You go out and... you leave and most the time I don't think you're gonna be back. I think I'm going to get a call from the hospital, or the morgue. And that's it. That's the end. And I don't-" Steve took a shaky breath to calm him self down.

"Don't what?" Tony asked in a small voice. He looked so young burrowing his head further into Steve's shoulder.

"If you can't stop this, Tony," he hugged him a little closer, "I can't do this anymore."

It was then that Tony looked up from where he was hiding. A fleeting look of something flashed across his face before Steve could identify it. It was quickly replaced with anger, but his eyes were swimming with hurt. "Fine." The atmosphere immediately changed from safe, to icy, with Tony standing up and storming towards the bedroom. "Fine, whatever."

The door slammed and Steve closed his eyes. His head was swimming. He knew he had to give Tony the choice, but he somehow felt he was... betraying him. No, he had to do this. It will help him. He stood back up to call everyone on the search party. Once that was done, he figured he would grab some blankets from the closet to use for the couch. And maybe some aspirin and water for Tony.

* * *

It was the banging in his head that woke him up.

Well no, he'd been up all night, but it was the head ache reaching full potential that got him to lift his head off the pillow.

He had must have fallen asleep at one point, because there was the glass of water he had tried to retrieve earlier and a bottle of Tylenol. Tony swallowed the pills dry, but followed it by gulping down the water. He fell back into the pillows and rubbed the heal of his palms across his eyes. He could vaguely remember arguing with Steve when he got home. And he definitely remembered the tail end of that conversation. And while he _did **not **_like the idea of Steve telling him what to do, he could understand where he was coming from. But, _god,_ it was so frustrating! He loved Steve-he really did-(and he still didn't know if the feeling was mutual) but the guy just needed to _back off _some times! And he had all these conflicting thought going around in his head to make the decision harder to find (the hangover wasn't helping, either). He wanted to run, to get out (old habits die hard, y'know) but he didn't even want to think about a life with out Steve. He'd be in a drinking comma before the week was up.

15 more minutes of letting these poisonous thoughts fly around in his head, and Tony pulled himself out of the tangled sheets and ventured out into the shared living space. Steve was still huddled up on the couch, looking as cramped as can be. Tony made a mental note to buy a bigger couch, seeing as this probably wont be the last argument they'll have.

Tony continued on to the kitchen after the feeling of guilt had subsided. He was shoving coffee into the machine when he heard rustling coming from the living room. Tony didn't turn around.

"G'morning."

"Morning." The silence was awkward and thick as Tony retrieved a mug.

"Feeling any better?"

"Not really." Tony wasn't looking Steve in the eye. Instead turned back to the view out side their window.

"...is your eye ok?"

It had seemed like a life time ago that Howard had been over, and the question had taken Tony by surprise. He looked over at Steve to find him staring at the fridge behind Tony's shoulder. "Yeah, it's ok. Doesn't hurt."

Steve nodded and the silence stretched on. "Are we..."

"What?"

"Are we going to talk about last night?" Now they were both looking at each other, square in the eye.

Tony sighed and took another sip of his coffee to give him time. "Give me one day." Steve's brow furrowed, but he didn't say anything. "Give me one day to collect my thoughts. We can work through this tomorrow.

The look Tony received from Steve was absolutely devastating. _Fuck._ "Ok." Steve nodded, turning the hurt expression towards the TV. "Ok, one day."

* * *

**A/N: This was painful to write, not gonna lie... but I can see why Moffat enjoys writing devastating scenes. Not to compare myself to Satan or anything.**

**Reviews are always treasured!**

**And don't forget about my beta offer!**

**~Jessi**


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N: Look! A really late chapter that I have no excuse for. I suck, alright. You should all know that by now.**

**This story is now beta'd by the lovely, DorugaruAtisuto. Thank you!**

* * *

Tony woke up the next morning with sun in his eyes and the sheets tangled around his legs. The other side of the bed was cold and empty. Tony winced remembering how uncomfortable Steve must have been on the couch. Starting the day wasn't something he was looking forward to, but he knew he wasn't going to fall asleep again for a while.

With that in mind, Tony peeled the sheets off himself and stretched. He dragged his hand over his face as he stumbled into the bathroom to turned the shower's knob all while avoiding the mirror.

Finishing up his shower, Tony noticed a yellow square stuck to the fogged up mirror. As he ran his hand to clear the glass, he peeled of the sticky note and read it.

"Gone to class. I'll be back for lunch." Tony read Steve's neat, cursive hand writing. It was have been a little after ten, if he was already heading to campus. Considering that, Tony knew he was going to be late for class. He had nothing better to do than to go, and he could at least hang out with Hank Pym.

Tony looked up and caught his reflection in the clear spot of the mirror. Even to himself, Tony looked tired. Tossing and turning all night had been unkind to him, and his faced had seemed to age a couple of years. Bags were forming under his eyes, and his mouth was formed in a permanent frown.

He sighed and pulled out his toothbrush. Wallowing in self pity will not help him get to class.

* * *

Steve had woken up in the most uncomfortable position he could imagine on the couch. Again. The crick in his neck had only gotten worse.

Today was the day Tony had promised they would talk, but Steve figured he had hardly thought about it. He snuck into their bedroom, and spotting a still sleeping Tony, pulled out a plain white tee and dark blue jeans. Deciding to skip a shower, Steve silently changed and slipped back towards the kitchen. He was making toast when he heard the sound of the shower starting up.

Steve quickly dug through the drawers to find a pack of post-its and a blue pen. He scrawled out a quick message stepped back into the once shared bedroom. Steve still loved Tony completely, but he didn't want to see him until they talked this through. It stunned him, it _hurt _him that Tony would even consider choosing alcohol over him. He understood none of the reasoning behind it, but he guessed that's what they would be discussing.

He padded into the bathroom and moved to the mirror. Tony tended to take long showers, so Steve knew he wouldn't run into him. He pressed the adhesive the glass.

The blonde stood there for a couple more minutes, just listening to Tony get clean. Remembering that he had to be somewhere, he backtracked to grab the abandoned toast and head out the door.

* * *

Class was boring and useless. Every time he tried to talk to Pym to drag himself out of boredom, Hank would shush him and continue taking notes. The professor continued to drone on about things Tony already understood, and he was getting annoyed with the influx of questions from the students. He had no clue why teachers put up with them.

"Hey," Tony whispered.

"Shhh."

"Hey!" The professor looked up at the disturbance to find Hank ducking his head and glaring at Tony.

"What?"

"I think I'm gonna go."

"Class has, like, 15 more minutes left. Just stay 'til the end."

"No, I think it's gonna hold over. Steve's getting home about now, I'm just gonna head out."

"Alright, whatever. See you next week."

"Yeah maybe." Being considerable for once, Tony quietly packed up his things and slipped out. He halls were nearly empty, and deathly silent. He slipped on his sunglasses and continued walking. He wasn't even out the door before someone was tugging on his arm.

"Stark! Hey man, how's it going?"

Tony turned around to come face to face with Justin Hammer. _Aw shit._

"Do you need something?"

"No, I was just-uh-checking up. Y'know, our dad's are friends, we gotta be-"

"Our dad's aren't friends."

"Well, I dunno, they were just talking the other day." Hammer moved his jacket away from his pockets to slip his hands in. He looked absolutely smug.

It then donned on Tony that it was _his_ fault that Steve and Tony were in this mess. Wasn't it Justin that told his dad about their relationship? Tony's annoyed demeanor quickly become aggressive. "You little _shit._"

Hammer raised his eyebrows and tilted his head. "What's the problem, Stark? What did I do?"

Tony took a step forward and dropped his voice. "You know exactly what you did. Do you know the _shit storm _that happened after my dad found out?"

"Trouble in paradise?"

Tony clenched his fist. "Something like that."

"That's you problem, Stark. You and I, we weren't meant for relationships. You especially. You knew from the beginning this wasn't gonna work out. And poor Rogers-"

"Don't talk about him."

"-he's done everything he could possibly do. The problem's _you,_ Stark. It's always you."

He wanted to hit something. "Shut. Up."

"You know what, I changed my mind. It's not _all _you, Tony. You're just with the wrong person." Justin took a step forward. The halls had become surprisingly empty, and eerily quiet. If he knew any better, Tony would say Hammer planned this all out. "Steve's a little too..."

"Don't"

"Innocent for you. I don't know, you need someone more like..." he shrugged his shoulders. "Well, more like me."

"And you need help." Tony moved to walk around him, but was caught by Hammer's arm.

"I wasn't done," he spat. "I don't think you get it. You and I, we could _do _things, Tony. Great things, amazing things. Build up the greatest company anyone's ever dreamed about. We're two sides of a coin, its only natural."

"I'm nothing like you." Justin still had his hand around Tony's wrist.

"No, you're worse."

"You're doing a pretty fucked up job of talking me up, Hammer."

An oily smile appeared on his face before he responded. "You don't need complements, you need facts. You need logic. And you know I make more sense than Steve does. I wouldn't make you choose."

Tony turned his head sharply to look Justin in the eye. "How did you-"

"I'll see you around, Stark." He released his wrist just as the class to the right of them let out. Tony lost Justin in the crowd, and wasn't planning on looking for him again. He turned and quickly pushed through the nearest door. The engineer made no hesitations to get in his car and drive away. His wrist felt warm from Hammer's hand the entire ride home.

* * *

It seemed Tony had stayed for the entire class. Steve wasn't really sure how to feel about that. He guessed it was nice, maybe Tony was trying to show he could be more responsible. He didn't really want to think about it too much.

Steve was thinking they would go out to eat, Italian maybe, and talk there. He was planning on keeping his cool and trying to understand everything from Tony's point of view. He was still unsure where Tony was coming from concerning the whole thing.

The blonde was currently in the middle of the living room, sitting on the sofa and drawing in his sketch book. He could hear Tony enter, but didn't turn to greet him.

"Hey," Tony called.

"Hey. How was class?"

"Okay, boring, but what else is new?"

Steve smirked and flipped his book closed. "Do you want to go to Olive Garden? Get some lunch?"

"Um." Tony had moved into the kitchen and was shifting through the freezer. "Can we stay here? We've got some lasagna... which is expired." He dropped the frozen entree on the counter and continued rummaging.

"I, uh, I guess so. Why? Did something happen?"

"No. Why do you think something happened?"

"I dunno, you seem," Steve shook his head. "Never mind, I don't really think anything happened. I can go pick something up, if you want."

"That's okay. Look, we've got mac and cheese. That's pasta."

Steve smiled and leaned on the fridge. "I missed you." He really shouldn't have said that, Steve realized. He was supposed to be mad at Tony, giving him a choice. But the statement was true, and he wanted to let Tony know.

Tony looked at Steve in surprise, and usually this may have been the signal for him to run, get out. But Tony was pretty sure that he loved Steve (as scary as that was) and did want to loose him. God forbid, end the relationship himself.

"I missed you too."


	8. Chapter 7

**A wild hiatus appears!**

* * *

"What are you doing?"

"Uh, cooking?"

"No I... why are you doing it like that?"

"That's how you do it, right? That's what the box says."

"The box says boil it.""Yeah, so I'll keep boiling.""That's not boiling, it's just hot."

"No, look, bubbles." Tony pointed at the stove top with the pan seated on top. Steve gave him an unimpressed look.

"Just leave it on for a couple more minutes."

"It'll be fine if I pour it in now." He reached for the macaroni box still in Steve's hand, only to see it pulled away.

"Two more minutes."

"Fine." Steve set the box back down next to the stove and pulled the cooked vegetable steamer out from the microwave. "It's like we're back in the dorms again," Tony commented, drumming his fingers on the counter.

"Not my fault."

Tony hummed in response and turned to lean back on granite. The conversation lapped into a somewhat awkward silence as Steve dumped the steamed vegetables into a bowl. Tony didn't know what to say at this point, and was too busy worrying about their future discussion to care. The idea crossed his mind as to tell Steveabout the Hammer incident earlier, but he dismissed it and continued to tap his fingers. They stayed like that for a while longer: Steve going through the fridge and Tony staring at nothing."Was class okay today?"

"What? Oh, you already asked that."

"Well yeah, but, what did you guys...uh...do?"

"What did we do?" Tony asked, his eyebrows knotting together. "It was a lecture."

Steve nodded and stared at his now filled glass of water. The tips of his ears were steadily turning pink as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other. Tony puffed out his cheeks, blowing out a stream of air. Remembering he was meant to be cooking, he spun around the dump in the macaroni."I'm gonna go set the table," Steve mumbled, opening the cabinet to grab plate.

Jesus fuck. Tony bit the inside of his cheek to keep from shouting at the top of his lungs. It felt like their relationship was walking on eggshells, and they hadn't even done anything! It was like they were freshmen again and didn't even know each other. Except this time, it hurt. Tony was reminded why his relationships didn't usually work out. But he wanted him and Steve to pull through. He wanted-Tony sighed and turned off the heat.

He wanted to go out and catch a bad movie and then go to dinner to make up for it. He wanted to go on a double date with Pepper and tell her that the guy wasn't good enough for her. He wanted to visit Steve's grandma and go out driving and sit at home with mac and cheese-and he wanted to do it all with Steve. So he finished preparing the food, grabbed some napkins, and headed into the main room.

* * *

**Ugh I'm so sorry! This is only half a chapter and I've actually had it written since I posted the last one. I'm away from home now, but I'm finishing this and posting the other half if it kills me. This is un-beta'd since I'm on my phone. Thank you to the lovely followers who pushed me to write!**

**~The sucky writter**


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